'Honor Flight' movie shows sacrifices of World War II veterans

Published: Thursday, May 16, 2013 at 9:32 a.m.

Last Modified: Thursday, May 16, 2013 at 9:32 a.m.

THOMASVILLE | One of the most heartwarming documentaries about World War II veterans will be shown at Piedmont Crossing Retirement Community at 6:30 p.m. Monday.

"Honor Flight: One Last Mission" tells the story of four living World War II veterans and a Midwest community coming together to give them the trip of a lifetime to visit military memorials in Washington, D.C.

Thomasville High School JROTC will provide a brief ceremony prior to the movie. Admission is free. Reservations are encouraged and may be made by calling Blair White, director of marketing, at 474-3605.

The film features Orville Lemke, a former plumber and beloved father of nine, who fights to hold off terminal cancer so he can make the trip, and Julian Plaster, an 89-year-old poet who has survived almost all of his friends and family.

"Honor Flight" also chronicles the stories of veterans Joe Demler and Harvey Kurz. They raise money for and promote the Honor Flight program to help fly as many of their fellow veterans as possible. Demler, a soft-spoken retired postmaster, was famously pictured in Life magazine as "the Human Skeleton" upon his liberation from a German POW camp. Days from death, he weighed just 70 pounds. His comedic sidekick, Kurz, saw the iconic flag go up at the Battle of Iwo Jima, unbeknownst to the shoppers he bags groceries for at the local Pick n' Save.

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